Originally built in 1822 as the Athens Female Academy, and then repurposed by the Methodist Church, what is now known as Athens State College is both the oldest and newest school of higher education in the Alabama state system. It is the oldest because the Female Academy opened before any other Alabama state college or university, and newest because it didn’t officially join the Alabama State educational system until 1975.
The most prominent building on the campus is Founders’ Hall, home of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the four columns that hold up the structure. Local legend states that during the American Civil War, the structure was about to burned to the ground by the invading Union army, when the stern headmistress Jane Hamilton Childs presented the commanding officer a note from Abraham Lincoln himself. After reading it, the officer led his troops away.
Founders’ Hall seems to be the home of the spirit of a young lady who perished there just after the Civil War ended. The legend states that two girls were trying to sneak out after curfew to meet some suitors. The ladies were coming down the grand staircase, candles in hand, when a gust of wind blew the flame into the hair of one of the girls. She caught fire instantly, and soon died from her injuries.
Since the time of her death, residents have heard disembodied footsteps in all parts of the building, but most frequently on that grand staircase. She is also held responsible for lights that will turn on and off, as well as squeaking doors and knocks in the walls. It is even said that she can sometimes be seen standing in one of the third story windows when the hall is known to be empty.
The most famous haunting at Athens State is that at McCandless Hall, however. Believers tell the story of a beautiful young opera singer named Abigail Burns, who gave a bravura soprano performance during the opening night festivities at the performance hall in 1914. She brought the house down, and promised the adoring audience that she would return. Later that night, as her carriage was heading back to her hotel, a sudden thunderstorm spooked her horses and Miss Burns was killed as the carriage toppled.
Not long after, reports began of ghostly appearances at McCandless Hall. The ghost supposedly appears as a blonde woman wearing a flowing white gown, holding a bouquet of flowers. She has been seen all over the Hall, from the dressing rooms to the hallways, and the smell of flowers always accompanies her appearances. Much like the ghost of Founders’ Hall, this ghost is often seen in a third story window, emanating an otherworldly glow.
This ghost gained a little bit of notoriety in 1997 when one of the professors at Athens State, one Mark Durm, set out to prove that Abigail Burns was not haunting McCandless. First of all, he found no death records for the singer, and he found no reference to her being the opening night entertainment at the Hall. This attempted debunking has done little to dissuade people from their belief, however.
Yet another set of Athens State ghost stories belong in Brown Hall, which houses the offices of the University president. The building was built in 1912 in the memory of Florence Brown, a school employee who lost her life in the middle of a typhoid outbreak, staying behind at the school to take care of the sick students while the rest of the faculty fled. All who stayed behind died while quartered in what would later be called Brown Hall.
Strange footsteps and knocks are not uncommon in Brown, but there have been reports of more impressive phenomena. A former continuing-education professor reported levitating objects and knocking sounds cascade, domino-style, around his office until a circuit of the room was completed, at which time things went back to normal.
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